Life Before Death
by Bellachick-Black
Summary: the story of the potters before they died.


Life before Death

A meeting, a celebration, and a problem

It was a very hazy morning in late June. A man with very untidy black hair was woken by the cries of his child, who like him had untidy black hair. His wife lay next to him, snuggled in the covers. Her vivid red hair scattered across her white pillow. The man put on his slippers and walked into the child's room.

"What's the matter Harry? Do you need a diaper change?" The man gently picked up the baby and placed him on the changing table. A fresh diaper zoomed across the room along with baby powder and wipes. The child's father quickly, as if by magic, changed the diaper and carried the baby back into his bedroom.

"Lily come on. It's time to wake up. Harry's hungry and we would like your famous pancakes and eggs." Lily grunted and turned over to see her two wonderful boys standing next to her. "Alright James and Harry. I think I can do that." She slipped on her pink fuzzy slippers and walked over to Harry. She gave him a little kiss and took him from James. "Sometimes I wonder Lily, if you love him more than me. You don't do you?" Lily looked into Harry's green eyes, her eyes and smiled. "Of course I love you. But Harry is my little boy and he needs to be taken care of." James smiled and walked down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Harry! James! Stop throwing your FOOD!" screamed Lily as she ducked out of the way of a flying pancake. "Come on Lily. Harry started it!" replied James as he threw some more eggs at Harry. "I don't care who started it I want it to end NOW!" and with that all the food disappeared into thin air. "Lily you ruined our fun!" shouted James. "Well James, you and Harry ruined my kitchen!" retorted Lily. Harry just sat there laughing at the two of them. Soon everybody was laughing with Harry. "James, I have to go get dressed before Sirius and Remus get here. You can get yourself and Harry ready ok?" James smiled "Yes Lily."

As Lily was getting ready, which took about an hour, James and Harry were running around the living room wearing only their underwear. "Get back here Harry! You can't be seen in your diaper, well actually you can. But look at me I need my clothes!" James quickly summoned a pair of pants and a shirt for himself and a little shirt for Harry that said "Born to play Quidditch!" "Now that's better. Why don't I get your broom and let you practice your Quidditch games. I think you would make a great Seeker Harry, just like me." James got out Harry's Comet 12, made specially for children under one. Harry was strapped to the seat and was about to take off when the door bell rang. " That will be Moony and Padfoot. Come Harry lets go get them." Harry jumped off the floor and sped off toward the door.

"Hello Prongs. Where's Harry?" No sooner had the words come out of Sirius' mouth then Harry came pelting out of nowhere and slammed into Sirius' stomach. James grabbed the tail of the broom and pulled Harry out of it. "So sorry Padfoot. Are you alright?" Sirius started to laugh and got up off th ground. "Have you been teaching him how to fly that thing. He's pretty good. Where's your lovely Lily? Oh, and is Remus here yet? He wasn't home when I was there this morning." James ushered Sirius inside the door before talking. "Lily is upstairs and I have no idea where Remus is. Is it a full moon tonight?" "No, it's not for another couple of weeks." James racked his brain for some kind of hint to where Remus was. "Why don't we ask Lily where he is. She's pretty smart." They all headed up the stairs but before they reached the top floor Sirius turned into a bear like black dog. Harry laughed but James told him to keep quiet. James knocked on the bathroom door. "Lily darling could you come out here. I think something is wrong." Lily couldn't hear a word James was saying because the blow dryer was going. "LILY HELP ME THERE'S A DOG TRYING TO ATTACK ME!" This time Lily heard James and she swung open the door to find James lying on the floor at the feet of the bear like dog. And there was Harry sitting there laughing like a hyena. Lily gasped and ran to James' side. "James are you ok? Speak to me! JAMES! You, Get out!" Lily hit the dog on the head with her blow dryer. Sirius transformed back into his original self. "Ouch! Why did you do that Lily. Didn't you know that was me?" Lily blushed and they all laughed again. Harry was getting sleepy. While the others were getting a cup of coffee, Harry dozed off and slept for a long while.

While Harry was sleeping two of the Marauders and Lily were talking. "I have no idea where Remus could be. You don't think They got him do you?" questioned Sirius. A soft breeze blew through the kitchen making all of them shiver. "If the Death Eaters did have him he would have called for help. I guess we just have to wait for him to get here." So the three of them and Harry sat waiting for Remus Lupin to arrive at the house. Lily decided to take Harry upstairs, change him, and put him to bed. "Sirius are you sure that Remus wasn't at his house?" Sirius was admiring his finger nails when he said, "Oh course he wasn't! I knocked on... his... door..." Sirius trailed off. "I totally forgot that he doesn't answer the door if you don't ring the door bell. How stupid can I get. Oh and he was probably sleeping too!" Sirius buried his head in his hands and tugged at his hair. "I would think that he would be up now seeing as it is almost noon. I'll send him an owl. SNITCH!" A yellow tinged eagle owl came soaring in the window. It landed on James' shoulder and nipped his ear. "Wow that's a nice looking owl you've got James." said Sirius. James stroked the owl and started to write the letter.

_Moony,_

_Where are you! I'm so sorry that Sirius forgot_

_that you don't answer the door unless someone_

_rings the wizard's door bell. Please stop by the _

_house soon._

_Prongs_

James tied the letter to Snitch's leg and was about to let him fly off when there was a very loud knock on the door. James and Sirius stared at each other for a moment and then went to answer the door. There on the front door step was a man with tattered robes and greying brown hair. He had many rolls of parchment in his hands and a couple of quills. It was Remus Lupin.

"Hi James and Sirius. I'm so sorry I'm late. I'm sure you figured out why?" Remus looked sternly Sirius. "Yes Remus we have. So what are all the rolls of parchment for? I didn't know you were an artist." Sirius laughed. "Very funny. I think we should be discussing what we're going to be doing about Sirius' cousin. You know that Bella. She's a menace." "Tell me about it Moony!" Said Sirius as he leaned back in his chair. Lily returned from upstairs and welcomed Remus. Then the four of them sat there thinking of some way to get back at Bellatrix.

"I've got it!" shouted Sirius with an insane look upon his face. He made everyone jump. "We can go over to her mansion and put fake vomit on her door step. Then after we ring the door bell I'll turn into a dog and make her run onto it." Lily, James, and Remus stared at him with very confused looks and sighed.

"Sirius, you know that we won't be able to get away with that. She'll know it was us." whispered James.

"Why don't I get some more coffee ready for us." said Lily as she pushed in her chair. While the others sat there staring at Lily, she ground up the coffee beans and put them in a pot of water. Using her wand, she lit a fire under the pot and boiled the water. Soon enough the coffee was ready and she poured it into four different cups. One of the cups said #1 dad. Another said Quidditch star. The last two bore the legend Charmed Charms club Champion. Suddenly there was a loud scream from upstairs.

"Harry!" All four of the friends chorused. Lily took off first followed closely by James. Remus and Sirius took one more sip of their coffee and walked slowly up the stairs.

"James do you thing he's ok?" asked Lily as she opened the door. To her surprise she found Harry flying around the room. Somehow he had sprouted wings. "Bless his little heart. Look James! He can do wandless magic! Good job Harry!" Lily and James ran forward to congratulate their son.

"Come here Remus and Sirius! You're his Godfather and Uncle you know!" chimed James as he threw Harry into the air and caught him. Everyone was celebrating that night. Remus made a chocolate cake and Sirius got some decorations, which sparked every so often. But not one of those friends knew what was coming next.

"Open up Potter!" A loud female voice screamed from outside the door.

"Oh, NO! NOT YOU!" shouted James. Sirius' eyes were darting from the windows to the door. "I don't think _you_ can do anything. Let me transform and see what I can do." with that Sirius turned into the bear like dog and went to the door. He opened it with his paw and stepped outside.

"Oh look at that cute puppy. Where did you come from? Are you Potter's dog?" asked Bellatrix Black (She wasn't yet married but was engaged to Roudophus Lestrange). With one fast swishing movement Bellatrix bound up the dog and screamed, "Hey Potty! Got you Doggy! Come and get him before _we_ do him." then she took off on her broom followed closely by her fellow Death Eaters.

James and Lily were breathing heavily and looked at each other. "Lily you know what to do. Call for Dumbledore and make sure other members of the Order are alerted. Don't worry I'll see you soon enough." He kissed Harry and Lily on the cheeks and gave Remus a hug. With a swish of his wand his broom was in his hand and he was off.

"I'll get the Order members Lily, you and Harry just settle ok?" Lily nodded as Remus hastened to the fireplace. Remus stuck his head in the fire. "Number 12 Phoenix way!" Suddenly Remus felt his head spinning around and around. "Hello! Is anyone here? Hello!" A man with very grizzly hair turned around. "Good God Remus! What's the matter?" Moody looked very worried. "Sirius was taken be Bellatrix and James went after them! We need help and back up. Can you get the others. James will let us know where Bellatrix took Sirius when he finds him."

About a half hour later Moody had assembled the Order of the Phoenix.

"Now you all know why we are here," stared Moody, "A certain member of the Order, known as Sirius Orion Black was taken by that blasted women Bellatrix! Mr. Potter went after him to track where he was taken. We are very lucky the Mr. Remus Lupin notified us of this 'tragedy'". Moody looked warily around the group. "Arthur and Molly I need you two to keep a watch on the fires and that glass mirror thing. The rest of us will be on our brooms flying North. Ok are we ready?" Everybody nodded. Moody summoned a large bunch of broomsticks and the whole Order was off at once.

"Now if any of us are shot down we will keep going!" shouted Moody over the wind. "Moody, none of us are going to die!" replied Remus. "Oh really Mr. Smarty pants! I've been in a flying group where a person's brains were knocked out with one swish of a wand!" And so they continued on while Moody was shouted out things that none of the others could hear. The whole order landed a little ways outside of a very old town. Moody got them all into a pub and asked the bartender where there was a private room where there was a fire. The bartender looked at him curiously and then led him away. All the other ordered drinks and waited. Meanwhile, Lily was sitting at home by the fireplace. Harry was crying again and Lily tried to calm him down but nothing worked.

"Come on Harry! Please go to sleep. I can't bring daddy back right now. Come on Harry please go to sleep." Lily was pacing now. "SHUT UP HARRY! I"M VERY WORRIED AND I CAN'T DEAL WITH YOU CRYING RIGHT NOW!" Harry started to cry and so did Lily. They both cried themselfs to sleep and didn't notice that only an hour later James, Sirius, and Remus had come back home from their showdown with Bellatrix and her friends.

The telling of the tale

The Dawn came all to suddenly, with a light mist on it's wings. Lily found herself back in her bed, next to her husband. She got up and went to check on Harry. He was sound asleep. Lily proceeded down stairs to find Remus on the couch by the door and Sirius curled up next to the fire. Lily smiled and went to the kitchen to make some pancakes. About an ten minuets later she could here foot steps up-stairs. _It's good that James is up_, though Lily, _I can ask him about last night_. James came down in his bathrobe and hugged Lily from behind.

"I missed you sweet-heart." Lily smiled again. " I missed you too James. Why don't you get Remus and Sirius up. Harry can sleep all he wants, the little trooper." and so James went into the living room to wake his two sleeping friends.

"Remus come on bud, time to get up." James poked Remus. "You too sleepy head. Lily's making pancakes." said James as he poked Sirius. Sirius' ears perked up. "Did you say pancakes? I'm getting up don't worry."

James joined Lily in the kitchen in making pancakes. "So James how did u get Sirius back? It must have been very interesting. Tell us all over breakfast." soon the pancakes were done and were thrown on plates to look like Mickey Mouses. Sirius licked his lips as he sat down and stared at his plate. "I haven't had these kind of pancakes in a _LONG_ time!" and he dug right in. Remus and James laughed while Lily looked on in surprise. They were all eating their wonderful pancakes when James spoke up. "So should we tell my lovely lady what happened between the Order and the Death Eaters?". "Why not, but she might not be able to handle it!" piped Sirius. Lily glared at Sirius. "What? It is the truth! It was bloody horrible!". James and Remus looked at each other and laughed then said in unison, "Ok Lily, here's the tail of how we beat Bellatrix and her gang of Death Eaters."

"It started with me. I was riding my broom toward the place where Sirius was supposed to be. But I was deceived They had taken off the tracking device that I had put on Sirius because he usually likes getting lost these days." James laughed and paused for a second to recollect his thoughts. "Anyway, I finally found him by tracking the trail of dog hair that was left on the ground after that Death Eaters had landed. They forgot how much our friend here can shed.

"And so I found that the trail led to an old house where Sirius was being kept. I used the mirror to tell the people in the Order where Sirius was and how to get in, but I don't know what happened inside the old house. I think this is where Sirius should take over." Sirius cleared his throat and wiped his mouth off. "Well, you see, when my cousin took me from the house she bound me with a simple rope that wasn't that strong. I broke out of it and jumped from the sling that they had attached to the broom. I was falling pretty fast and was about to transform when one of the other Death Eaters hit me with that spell that slows you down before you hit the ground. I couldn't transform then because the Death Eaters were closing in on me. I stuck my tail between my legs and put my ears back. Then I beared my teeth and growled. They all thought I was mad but then I charged and then they attacked. They sent spells flying in all directions. I was nearly hit by one as it zoomed past me!" said an overenthusiastic Sirius who was now on top of the table acting out his part of the tale.

" There were spells raining down on me from all sides and I was trapped!" "Now, now Sirius, that's not what really happened." interjected Remus. "From what I heard last night you fell off that broom and the Death Eaters just came and collected you and dragged you to the house since you were so close." Sirius' face flushed and glared at Remus. "That's not what I remember! Oh well, if you know it so well why don't you tell it right!" Remus looked please with himself and stood up to speak. "Yes, well, like I said Sirius just fell off the broom and the Death Eaters just dragged him to the house. I saw him hit his head and elbow on a tree root." Sirius felt the back of his head. "Now I know where that big huge gash came from. The Order wouldn't tell me what was back there." Sirius' smile turned to a frown and he started to pout. Remus returned to his story. "So, James and I were hiding far enough away that they didn't hear us laughing when Sirius got hit. We watched as they opened the door using a secret code. I remembered it of course cause I'm the smartest. I told the rest of the Order to dress as Death Eaters and to drag us in like we were captured too, since Bella had sent out more Death Eaters after us." Remus paused for a second and James took hold of this chance for a little question.

"Remus, why do u call her Bella? You should be calling her Black Heart or Black. You could even call her Bellatrix, but not Bella!" Remus blushed and Sirius laughed. "I think little Remykins is still in love with that piece of filth!" Remus blushed so much that his face was turning purple. "Will you guys stop. I do not like that...that...criminal!" Blurted Remus. Sirius just laughed harder. "Yeah well, I found this in your pocket!" and he whipped out an envelope that had obviously been opened without Remus' permission. Sirius began to read.

_Dearest Bella,_

_How have you been? I'm really not sure I can except the fact_

_that you have been in league with you-know-who. _

_I cry at night when I think about our love that was so hastily_

_spent..._

Remus jumped on top of Sirius and tried to rip the letter out of his hand. " Give it back you git!" shouted Remus. "Just keep calling me names Remus and I'll read farther. Gee whiz Remus. You get pretty mushy here, can you see?" Sirius thrust the letter in front of Remus' face. Remus snarled and tried to bite Sirius. Lily and James were just staring at the two friends fighting. Lily had a weird sort of confused look on her face and James was having the time of his life. Lily elbowed James in the ribs and put a serious face on. James got up and snatched the letter out of Sirius' teeth and read it.

The fighting stopped and everyone turned to look at James. Remus got up and brushed himself off. "So sorry James. I couldn't control my emotions. Can I please have my letter back?" James held up his hand so that he could finish reading. James' eyes widened as they got to the bottom and he folded the letter up and put it in his pocket. "So, lets get back to the story. Oh yes. Well we got into the old house and Sirius was hanging by his legs from the ceiling. The Death Eaters were circling him and the Order were surrounding them. Remus and I jumped into the center, cut the bonds binding Sirius, and caught him. The three of us joined the fray and we bound up the Death Eaters for old Voldemort to find when he gets home. They'll have to find a better hiding place next time. Alright?" James looked slightly irritated and went to his study to have a more careful look at the letter.

Lily handed James a cup of coffee as he walked out of the kitchen. Lily looked at the two friends. "Now you've given my James a mystery to solve. Well, that should give us enough time to talk about this letter then. Remus would you care to explain?"

Mysteries and Letters

James rushed into his study and sat down in his arm chair. The one with such a high back that nobody could see him from the back. He laid the letter on the desk and reread every sentence. He again looked at the last sentences, where his first curious thought had come. Was Remus really still in love with Bellatrix. It might not be the best relationship but if she was going to switch sides, that would only be a miracle.

Lily sat Sirius and Remus down in the kitchen and smiled. "Remus, I can't believe you would still like Bella." Remus blushed a little and replied "She's a pretty nice girl and all. Not as nice as she was in school but I've been trying to persuade her to switch sides." Sirius was the first to laugh and got two faces, this time, that gave him very stern looks. "You will never get _her_ to switch. Mark my words guys, she'll never be nice to us again." Sirius slammed his fist on the table, which upset the coffee mugs sitting on it. Lily jumped and rushed to the sink to get some damp rags to clean up. Remus just sat there, face in his hands. "I think I'll be going now Lily. I'll just go and say good bye to James and Harry." Sirius went up the stairs as quietly as he could. He opened the door to James's office and stepped inside.

"James do you really think that the letter is from Bella? I mean, it could be from anyone. Remus is about the most gullible person I know." James sighed and looked up at Sirius. "This is one mystery that is gonna be hard to solve. I don't see why it would be the real Bellatrix, it has to be a fake. Or it's a spy working for her." James put the letter down and rubbed his eyes. "Well buddy, I should be going now. Take care of yourself and don't work to hard." With that Sirius slipped out of the room, closing the door and trudging down the stairs. He passed the kitchen where Remus and Lily were still talking. Silently he waved to them. Walking out the front door he felt like he had betrayed his friends. Sirius knew that he should have stayed and talked to Remus. "I'll send him a letter later." he mumbled to himself as he left number 1213


End file.
